Shit.
Unbelievably, he pulled the slide back until it clicked, then handed the gun back to me.
“There,” he said. “One in the chamber now. Safety’s still off, so be careful.”
For a half-second I just sat there gaping in astonishment. Then I put the gun to the back to the driver’s head, this time pressing the barrel into the flesh of his thick neck.
“PULL. OVER.”
To my surprise, he did. Slowing down smoothly, he brought the truck to a stop on the shoulder of the road.
“Dallas,” said the man in front again. “We’re not here to hurt you…”
My teeth were clenched. “My house is burning!”
“We didn’t do that,” the man said.
“Then why are you abducting me?”
“We’re not abducting you,” the man with the goatee offered. “We’re saving you.”
I laughed out loud. It came out maniacal. “Saving me from what? The power you cut to my house? The fire you set to kill me?”
“Like I said, that wasn’t us,” said the blond. “Think about it. We’re the good guys. Now, who are the bad?”
My mouth twisted begrudgingly. I didn’t answer.
“The ones in black were the bad guys,” goatee went on. “The ones dressed head to toe in tactical nightgear, with infrared optics.”
“The ones we were fighting,” said the guy up front. “The ones we pulled you away from, to get you out of there.”
I thought back to the whole damned clusterfuck, starting with the asshole standing over my bed. He was definitely one of the bad guys. Ditto for the one who crashed through my window, also dressed in black.
Not the guy with the hand over my mouth, though. That was one of these assholes.
I glanced at the driver. His hands still rested on the steering wheel. One of them was bleeding. I could see a perfect imprint of my upper teeth…
“Yes, we grabbed you,” said the blond. It was like he was reading my mind. “But we did it to get you out. To keep you safe.” He jerked his head downward, toward the gun. “Why do you think your hands are free? Or you’re even conscious to begin with?” His mouth curled into a half-smirk. “If we really were the bad guys, would I give you back a loaded firearm?”
I hesitated… then very slowly lowered the weapon. The second I did, the driver eased off the brake and the truck started moving again.
“You’re Dallas,” said the man in front. “I’m Maddox. The guy next to you is Austin.” He tapped the driver. “He’s Kane.”
The driver, who still hadn’t said a single thing, pulled back into traffic.
“We served with Connor. All of us.”
My shoulders slumped as my body relaxed. The way they acted, the way they moved… it all made sense now. They were SEALs! Like my brother…
“Here,” said goatee, holding his hand out expectantly. “Give it over?”
KA-CHING!
With the flick of my wrist I yanked the slide back, ejecting the first round upward. It flipped through the air, end over end, until I caught it nimbly in my other fist.
“Fine then,” I growled. “Let’s talk.”
I handed him back the weapon butt-end first, the chamber open and empty. The pretty-boy in front looked on, as fascinated as he was impressed.